Game.



K. A. BRADLEY.

GAME.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 19. 1916.

Patented May 29, 1917-.

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KATE ,A. BRADLEY, on autism orrsr, mew JERSEY.

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' Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed August 19, 1916. Serla1 11o.'115,880.

To alljwhom it may concern.- 1 j Be it known that I, KA'reA. BRADLEY, a subject of the King. of Great Britain, residing at Atlantic City, in the county of Atlantic and State of NewJersey, have invented new and useful Improvements in Games, of which the following is a specification. v

The invention relates to games and toys and more particularly to games such as aree v the numeral 10 indicates a floor or the generally found .at parks, carnivals, seashore resorts and the like, an object of the invention being to provide a game that will interestand amuse grown persons and ch11? dren and in which there will be an element of chance in obtaining certain results, requiring also keenness of the eye and accurate manipulation in throwing to msure success. p

Among other features the invention com} prehends balls which are thrown at a hasket or net from a prescribed distance with i the object of having the balls pass into the i basket, those balls passing into the basket counting ashits whereas the balls that are not accurately thrown and donot pass into the basket are regarded as misses and-therefore not to be counted in obtaining accurate results.

view taken through the game apparatus;

To this end the game apparatus is constructed to return the counting balls into a position where the final result can be quickly determined, whereas the balls that miss the basket are returned in a dilferent manner and arrangement, all of the balls howevenbeingultimately returnable into a boxor'onto a table adjacent to the player sothat the player can repeatthe throwing operationor la new playentake his place, the entire operation being simple and readily accomplished to make the game nteresting and pleasing to the participants and onlookers. 0 e

In the further disclosure of the lnventlon reference is to behad to the accompanying drawings, constituting a part ofthis spec fication in which similar characters of reference denote corresponding parts'in all the views, and in which,

. Figure 1 is a vertical longltudinal sectional Fig. 2 is a fragmentary plan View of the structure shown m Fig. 1;

wires 18 being connected "to a with another wire 18 connection with Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the basket and adjacent parts;

Patented May 29, 1917. n

Fig. 4 is a vertical transverse sectional View taken on the line 44 in Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrow; and

, ig. 5 is a fragmentary enlarged vertical sectional view showing the operation of the ball elevating mechanism and the construc- H tion of the box table.

Referring more particularly to the views ground and the numeral 11 a back wall, the

floor 10 having a depressed portion 12 at T cured to the wall '11 to project outwardly above the basket and swingingly support an ornamental elment lS that ma beconveniently fashioned to represent a ace of amus ing expressionythe same in' this instance being depicted with an electric bulb 18" in an eye of the face, said bulb b means of hattery 18,

thebattery connected to a projection 18 on the brac et 17- so that when the element 18 is'struck by; a all and thereby oscillated, it will strike the'projection 18 and result in illumination of the bulb 18. It will of course be understood'tha't I merely describe and show diagrammatically one method of acconi lishing this result, and it .is'obvious that eviations may be made in this construction. a a

The lower extremity of the basket 16 is provided with an "ornamentalelement 19 of sim lar design asthe element ;'18,' with the 'exceptionthat the mouth 20 ofthe element 19 1s separately formed from the balance of the figure, and is-connected with a swinging bottom 21 hinged to a permanent bracket 22, fixed to the wallll. The bottom 21 is adapted to normallyclose the lower extremity of the basket 16, this being accomplished through the agency of a sprin 23, however, when a ball or other missi e 24 has been cast into the basket, the weight of said ball will .be sufficient to overcome the action of the spring 23, thus permitting the bottom 21 to oscillate to an open position, so as to discharge the ball from the basket. It will be apparent that when the bottom 21 opens, the element 19 will be given the appearance of opening its mouth, so that the ball 24 will have the effect of rolling out of the mouth of the ornament 19, as will be readily understood. In certain instances, when the mouth opens, mechanism may be provided for protruding a tongue out of the mouth, in order to add .to the visual interest of the game.

Positioned below the swinging bottom 21 is a ball receiving chute or runway 25, the latter being employed to receive the balls discharged from the basket 16 and to convey them to the table 14, conveniently disposed and-within ready reach of the players of the game. Y provide a relatively enlarged ball receiving extremity 26, disposed contiguously to the bottom 21, and terminating in an angularly disposed portion 28, extending over to a point adjacent to a side 27 of the game apparatus. The portion 26 is provided in order that the balls discharged therebywill be delivered to one side of the game, to relieve the same of the possibility of interfering with a player, while the latter is throwing a ball toward the basket. The portion 26 terminates in an inclined extension 28, located adjacent to'the side 27 and disposed substantially parallel to the incline 13, said extension ending in juxtaposition with respect to the table 14, so that balls delivered by the extension or runway will be capable of being readily collected by the players.

In playing the game, a player will stand at a position substantially near the end of the incline 13 and will endeavor to throw one or more balls atthe elements 16 and 18 with the view of dropping the balls into the basket 16. If successful in his attempt, each ball entering the basket is entitled to be called a hit, and the balls failing to enter the basket are called misses, the greatest number of .hits made by one of two or more players, permits the player making the majority of hits to win the game. The game may be, also, played by a single player with equal facility andenjoyment.

Special mechanism has been provided for systematically collecting the thrown balls of the game, so that the balls will be directed to'the table 14 where they may be conveniently reachedby the players. This mechanism, in its preferred embodiment, consists of the table 14 of peculiar construction, the

same constituting frame bars 29, utilized for 'the support of the table 14, a vertically mov-.

The runway 25 is formed to able lift 30, and a sliding door 31, for controlling the action of balls conveyed by the extension 28 into the table 14.

Theedge 32 of the incline 13 terminates. in an inclined trough 33, inclined toward the lift 30, so that the balls which fail to enter the basket 16, will be collected by the trough and subsequently deposited upon the order that the lift'may be elevated 'toa place 7 substantially equal to that of the table 14, said lift is provided, onone side, with astud 34 which operates within a slot 35 formed on a vertical rocking lever 36. The lever 36 is pivoted, as at 37, to the table casing 38 and is formed with an offset handle portion 39, by means of which the lever may be rocked to elevate the lift. One side of the casing 38 is open'as at 40, so that when the lift 30 reaches the limit of upward movement the balls carried thereby will gravitate upon the table 14, the action being facilitated by the inclined bottom of'the lift.

Coincident with the release of the balls from the lift 30 and the table 14, the balls located within the runway 25 are alsoper- 'mitted to escape, so as to be deposited upon the table 14. The operation is performed by providing the lift with pin members '41, which when the lift is nearing its extreme elevated position, will contact with the'lower edge of the door 31, so as to push the latter upwardly in union with the lift. This operation uncovers the lower extremity of the runway and permits the balls located therein to roll out upon the table 14. Guide brackets 42 are utilizedto guide the door 31 in its roll of movement. It will be understood that when the game is used for com- I 'mercial purposes, a coin recording device may be associated with the lever 36, so that an exact record may be kept as to the number of timesthe game is played or operated.

From the foregoing it will be manifest that the objects of the present invention have been achieved and that all of the advantageous features of a game of this element, such as recreation, pleasure and exercise promoting qualities are, among others, present. The device is relatively simple in operation, can be conveniently. operated and formsa distinct addition and improvement in the art to which it relates. While the preferred form of the inventor can be set forth in detail, it is, of course, understood that various structuralchan s may be made'inthe same without departlng from the principles or scope of the invention.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new and patentable is:

1. A game of the class described comprising a fixed ball-receiving receptacle, a ball deflecting element swingingly suspended above said receptacle, a ball receiving table and means located beneath said receptacle to receive balls discharged from said receptacle and to deliver the balls to said receiving table. I

2. A game of the class described comprising a ball-receiving receptacle, means for deflecting balls into said receptacle, a swinging bottom normally closing one end of said receptacle and bein adapted to open upon receiving the weig t of the ball, and inclined runways for returning balls thrown toward said receptacle to a point within convenient reach of the players of the game.

3. A game of the class described, com rising a receptacle, movable means for de ecting balls into said receptacle, a swinging bottom carried by said receptacle, said bottom being capable of opening upon receiving the weight of a ball to discharge the latter from said receptacle, an inclined runway forreceiving balls emitted from said receptacle and to return the same to a players stand, and an incline disposed beneath said runway to return balls, which fail to enter said receptacle, to said players stand.

4; A game of the class described, comprising stationarymissile receiving receptacle, upper and lower runways disposed beneath said receptacle and adapted to return missiles thrown toward said 1' ptacle to one side of the game, said runways terminating adjacent to a ball receiving table, and means for elevating the balls carried by the lower runway toa position in substantial alinement to the plane of said table, whereby said balls may be deposited upon the table. I

5. A game of the class described, comprising a target of receptacle formation, upper and lower runways cooperating with said receptacle and utilized to return missiles thrown into and to one side of saidreceptacle to a players osition, means for retaining balls in the owermost portions of said runways, and manually operated mechanism for moving said means, whereby said balls may be deposited upon a common ball receiving table.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

KATE A. BRADLEY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0. 

